20+ Resume mistakes that left hiring managers laughing: 'He said a video game was his experience'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Feb 21, 2025 5:00 PM EST

Don't be that person who writes that they're "detal oriented" on their resume, thereby proving themselves immediately wrong! 

Resume writing is a true skill, and it's one that most people don't naturally have. Bragging about yourself and your work accomplishments can feel intimidating, not to mention the imposter syndrome you may feel as you list your achievements. It's a tough balance. You want to reflect your work experience in the most flattering way possible, while also avoiding stretching the truth into a lie. 

I think a lot of hiring managers are skilled at reading in between the lines when it comes to interviewing. Like if you claim you "managed an office," but the only duties you can talk about are turning the lights on in the morning and answering a few emails for the boss, they might think you're stretching the truth. There are all sorts of ways to spin your job title into something cool, or exaggerate your qualifications to match the job description, but at the end of the day, you've got to prove you're actually capable. 

Check out a few of the absolute funniest and worst resumes that hiring managers have ever laid eyes on. Then, read about this mom of twin toddlers who refused to parent them throughout a long flight, leaving the passengers near them annoyed: "The couple next to me moved." 

Advertisement
  • 01
    'Someone who applied... listed "able to use ATM" under their skills'
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    "What is the funniest/dumbest thing you have ever seen on a job application or resume?"

    Sinkigobopo A man was applying for a network technician position. The only experience he listed was "Second Life". He said a video game was his experience that would help him to setup and maintain network hardware.
    via u/Sinkigobopo
  • 03
    R... For a brief while, I had a "reference" from Mitch Hedberg on my resume. I met him in SF at one of his shows. He was selling some CDs of his. I bought the most recent one at the time, "Mitch All Together". I asked if he had "Strategic Grill Locations" there too, but he didn't. I told him I wanted to buy it from him because I had downloaded it illegally.
    via u/RecurringBassist
  • 04
    (You wouldn't steal a car, would you? No, but I would make a copy.) So I offered to pay him for it anyway. He said, "Naw man, that's alright. Don't worry about it. And hey, good job with the computer!"
    via u/RecurringBassist
  • 05
    For a little while my resume at the bottom said: "Good job with the computer!" - Mitch Hedberg Additional references available upon request.
    via u/RecurringBassist
  • 06
    desertsail912 I'll tell you one of the dumbest things I've had to do. I got a job through a temp agency to work on the floor at Dell factory in Austin for a brief stint between jobs. When I first got to the temp agency, I had to take a manual dexterity test which consisted of me being timed on how fast I could stick about 20 golf tees in a block of wood with holes drilled in
    via u/desertsail912
  • 07
    it. After me being assured that, yes, they indeed were serious, I started. The guy had an honest-to-god stopwatch and I could hear him click it as the last peg went in. He looked at me and said "wow, you beat the fastest time by 12 seconds." I remember feeling this odd mixture of pride and shame. I've always wondered if I should have put that on my resume.
    via u/desertsail912
  • 08
    guyincorporated So I was working on my resume, trying to figure out how to spin three years as a legal assistant into a resume that looked like I'd be useful in the videogame industry. So anyhow, I sent my rez to my dad to look over (he did a lot of hiring at his job and was happy to help). Well, he sends it back to me in word and he marked up the document using "track
    via u/guyincorporated
  • 09
    changes." I'd never thought of using track changes to leave comments on a document (I just used it for redlines), so I thought he hadn't made any comments. Feeling pretty good, I forwarded my resume on to my contact over at the company who sees it and calls me up laughing because apparently there's
    via u/guyincorporated
  • 10
    tons of text boxes on his screen (with track changes. enabled by default) that I was completely oblivious to. Text boxes like "I don't remember you ever doing this" and "are you comfortable listing this? This is stretching the truth even for a resume"? And that's why you always submit your resumes in PDF.
    via u/guyincorporated
  • 11
    Resume
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    kylemax My favorite resume was from a person claiming to be "detal-oriented".
    via u/kylemax
  • 13
    otterberg1 I have a friend who got a job because he put "Pokemon Master" as one of his achievements on a job application. Granted, it was at a Mexican Restaurant, but it was still ballsy for a guy who didn't have a job.
    via u/otterberg1
  • 14
    twowordz Not on a resume but I was once interviewing a candidate for a network technician position. I asked him if he liked his past job in a data center. He said "No, because the customers where always angry at us."
    via u/twowordz
  • 15
    Me: "Why were the customers angry at you?" Him: "Because the service sucked and nothing was working properly." Me: "Who was in charge of the service?" Him: "Me." Me: "I see..."
    via u/twowordz
  • 16
    Teepz Application to a restaurant that I had worked at for a while. This was for the dishwasher position mind you. "Able to recite movies with uncanny accuracy". Needless to say, he was hired.
    via u/Teepz
  • 17
    WitnessTheThick... My boss told me that someone who applied for my current position listed "Able to use ATM" under their skills.
    via u/WitnessTheThickness
  • 18
    nom_thee_ack Last time I was looking though resumes to hire someone there were two that really amused me. First, someone sent a file run.jpg which was a picture of them running in a race.
    via u/nom_thee_ack
  • 19
    Second, was a guy who had everything you're not supposed to put on a resume - Age, race, married w/wife's name and a few other things, only skill listed was "windows XP". and all in size 18 Times new roman font.
    via u/nom_thee_ack
  • 20
    AceHax Reading over a manger's shoulder, an application had all the usual good traits then for secondary languages was listed: "Pig Latin, basic Tolkein Elven, and Parseltongue"
    via u/AceHax
  • 21
    O... My brother lists under Accomplishments, "2006 Time Person of the Year".
    via u/owlinfestation
  • 22
    Tface An applicant once wrote that she had a 'mister meanor' when she was younger.
    via u/Tface
  • 23
    B sMcKracken Hobbies: Accounting Accounting experience: None Courses completed in accounting: None
    via u/B***sMcKracken
  • 24
    TangerinePlum We had a man who turned in a Wendy's application to our Starbucks. In all of the blanks for HS, College he'd written things like 'Navy, Army, ROTC' etc with N/A for all of the dates. His references all had the names filled in but DO NOT CALL in the call spaces.
    via u/TangerinePlum
  • 25
    We also get a surprising amount of applications with hearts dotting the i's. One girl gave three references: "Jen, Marcus, and Jason" with what I'm assuming were personal phone numbers. No last names. The worst was once when I was handing off drinks a man in his late 40's came up to ask me about applying here. We've had older
    via u/TangerinePlum
  • 26
    employees before so I just started telling him about the job when he loudly interrupted me and talked at length about how his son was in LAW SCHOOL and needed a job while in LAW SCHOOL. I gave him the store number and told him to have his son call but it was the dad who called back and later came back in to turn in the resume for his son who was going to school in the same city.
    via u/TangerinePlum
  • 27
    Needless to say didn't hire any of them.
    via u/TangerinePlum
  • 28
    wildpackoffamily... Sat next to a guy who was working on his resume. I looked over at his screen when he got up to print: "Master User of Microsoft Office"
    via u/wildpackoffamilydogs
  • 29
    Volsana Previous Employment - Toe Truck Diver.
    via u/Volsana
  • 30
    bored-now I once had "Responsible for airborne delivery of office supplies to coworkers as individual stocking conditions made re-supply necessary" on my resume, just to see if people actually read it. (translate: I shot rubber bands at people)
    via u/bored-now
  • 31
    toiletscribble I saw an email address on a resume that was something to the effect of "hotguy4u@domain.com' Shit you not.
    via u/toiletscribble
  • 32
    thelTguy I took an app when I was a shift manager at Jimmy John's that was entirely misspelled. The position this guy applied for was "Sawanch Makor". The word sandwich was printed on the application in 3 different places. I'm pretty sure he was fulfilling his required number of applications for unemployment.
    via thelTguy u/
  • 33
    B... Inside the application, instead of the normal resume, cover letter and transcript, all there was, was a picture of a waffle. [edit] To clarify: It was a Chinese waffle And no, he didn't get hired with those waffle grades.
    via u/BillionNewt
  • 34
    Cheezburger Image 10471262208
    via u/BillionNewt

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace-stories jobs job hiring manager work job candidate hiring workplace resume resumes
Scroll Down For The Next Article